Denali is one of the easiest wolves to manage when it comes to fly ointment. He will stand still and allow staff to apply ointment to ears, feet, legs, toes etc. He is the model wolf when it comes to physical care, but behaviorally?, that's another challenge. Denali seems to have no consistency to testing, whether it be staff or lately Maya. When Maya is engaged in dominance over Aidan, Denali has been actively grab biting Maya, creating more tension for Maya. When Maya does address the issue directly with Denali, he either runs, or does a face off with high tail. These are two significantly different responses. With staff, Denali will either test by grabbing anything near him, or he will rest his head on staff's shoulders and just sit there. This is why wolf care staff are trained to expect the unexpected, and why there is no such thing as an expert in captive wolf management because every day is different and every wolf personality as well as pack dynamics can influence a wolf's behavior.
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Grizzer is improving in social interactions. On the first few days after Shadow's retirement, he was more aloof, and seemed a bit anxious. In the last week, this has improved, and he is again socially interacting with Denali in wrestling behavior. Wolf care staff did two things that helped stimulate Grizzer. The first was the application of fly spray on the ground to stimulate scent-rolling. This was a management need to help apply fly repellent to the wolves coats, but it served to stimulate Grizzer who is obsessed with scent-rolling. The second activity to help Grizzer related to a dog pup. As many of you will recall, Grizzer is extremely social to pups. We had one of our Vermilion students bring their 3 month old dog pup to the outer gates and in the observation area. Grizzer was extremely excited, and was face to face through the windows with the pup (we would never risk a dog pups life by bringing them into a pack of wolves, it is even risky to introduce wolf pups). This worked, the following day, Grizzer was far more socially interacting, if we're lucky, the dog pup may have stimulated an increase in prolactin hormone, a naturally occuring nuturing hormone that cycles in summer.
The most noteable behavior since Shadow's retirement is the fact that Maya, while still showing some dominance, has much less tension. She clearly will have an influence on who leads this pack, but for right now, she is involved in all interactions. The wolf care staff will be coordinating a few more observation periods in the upcoming months to watch these dynamics unfold. Most observations need to occur after hours, during the cooler parts of the day, so watch the web for short – one night programs called "Wolf Watches", allowing people to participate in these observations.
Malik has certainly increased his social interactions since Shadow's retirement. This includes interacting on the den site with Shadow, but also more tolerance for staff that used to intimidate him. One benefit of retirement is the fact that a wolf can sleep all day long with no programming obligations, and Malik and Shadow are both showing a tendency to get long rest periods during the day. The only disturbance they have is when the temperatures increase and staff turn on a misting hose over their enclosure. Both wolves seem to enjoy standing in the mist and cooling off. But, don't assume 10-year old wolves are beyond trouble. Between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning, one of the retired wolves (we assume Malik, only because he has a history of hose biting), managed to get the sprinkler hose, and shredded the hose into several parts. A new hose was installed on Monday, with some restraints to keep it out of reach.
We are 2 weeks post retirement and Grizzer is starting to become more interactive. Of all the wolves in the Exhibit Pack, Grizzer showed the most behavioral issues with Shadow's retirement. Since the 2008 pup introduction, we have observed Grizzer to be tolerant of pups, not forcing any conflict and letting the pups climb all over him. As those pups matured, he continued to avoid conflict, and maintained a social relationship. With the exception of the dominance he showed towards Malik, he's always been quick to give in, especially to Shadow's dominance. In the absence of Shadow's leadership, Grizzer appears to be responding with avoidance behavior when Maya, Denali or Aidan are in a dominant interaction. We interpret this as a lack of behavior towards assuming a leadership role, resulting in either Aidan or Denali becoming the next dominant male. The Center is re instituting a program called Wolf Watch. This program occurs the first Thursday of every month, and involves training program participants in data collection, and having the observers camp out in the auditorium for a night of observation. We hope to offer this program the first Thursday of every month, and be able to interpret the pack dynamics without the influence of wolf care staff interactions with the wolves.
In the last few month's prior to retirement, Shadow was very tense when any of the other wolves approached. This could have been related to his aging condition and overcompensation for dominance as he began to physically age. The pack is very calm since Shadow's retirement, and Aidan has benefited greatly. With Maya under less tension, Aidan has been less of a target, and was observed swimming during a recent enclosure enrichment, something that he hasn't done in years, likely due to the lack of a quick escape in the water. Aidan has been showing some dominance, and the following notes were observed by Wolf Ethology Students: Kara Lindberg, Kathy Shaw, Emily Perry, Jim Shero <br> Aidan has been very attentive to interactions between all of the pack members. Shadow initiated multiple howls, to which the pack responded. Aidan joined in these responses and stood near the other members of the pack , both of which are recent behaviors for him. Aidan has been initiating play bouts with Denali and has begun to assert dominance over Denali. One interesting interaction included Aidan pinning Denali while about ten feet away Maya pinned Grizzer. Aidan and Maya held the pins for several seconds. Also, two times this week Aidan and Maya were seen parallel gaiting together.
Denali is still very social, interacting with Grizzer and Maya in chase behavior, and also Aidan when Aidan is showing confidence. Denali allows Aidan to show rank over him, but is using direct eye contact towards Aidan. So far, the pack is showing no clear leader, nor any indication that dominance other than Maya is defined. As a reminder, the summer season is the calmest season of the year, and rank activity may not be apparent until fall. The following observations were made by Ethology Students: Sarah Bruskotter, Jocelyn Faydenko, Steve Dibble. <br> Denali and Aidan have spent a fair amount of time playing this week. The increased amount of play behavior suggests relaxed wolves. Denali has been experiencing dominance from Aidan this week, something he hasn’t experienced from Aidan in quite some time.
In the last week, staff have noticed a considerable calm over the Exhibit Pack, specifically related to Aidan and Maya. Aidan is freely going into the pack holding with Maya, frequently on the greeting rock, and always at the fence for morning vitamins. These are behaviors that were not always the case a month ago. We have also noticed a stronger association between Aidan and Grizzer than had been previously observed. This association is not as strong as Grizzer and Denali, but worthy of noting. The Center is re instituting a program called Wolf Watch. This program occurs the first Thursday of every month, and involves training program participants in data collection, and having the observers camp out in the auditorium for a night of observation. We hope to offer this program the first Thursday of every month, and be able to interpret the pack dynamics without the influence of wolf care staff interactions with the wolves.
On Saturday, Danielle Solberg and her grandmother Barb, volunteered to do some pack observations to help interpret the current pack dynamics of the Exhibit Pack. These type of observations are valuable, as they help give a perspective that doesn't involve wolf care in the enclosure. Danielle did an excellent job taking notes and observed Maya doing some parallel gating with each of the males in the Exhibit, but more frequently with Aidan. In an effort to learn more about the pack dynamics (post Shadow retirement), we are resurrecting a program called Wolf Watch, which occurs on the first Thursday of every month. Check out the Programs tab on the wolf center home page, Wolf Watch programs are posted under the Seminar tab.
Denali is definitely testing his position in the pack, and the Youtube video this week shows him doing chin rests, ride up behavior, pinning, whirling, and squashing behaviors, usually to Grizzer, but sometimes Maya. Denali is an active individual that will continue to test his limits and at this point, Maya is the only one showing any resistance to those limits.
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